Chapter Three:
Words: Story: 1,332, Total: 1,340
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The next morning came slowly for Casey. She had lain awake for several hours, tossing and turning, thinking about what Derek had said. 'Damn him,' she thought, 'he's infuriatingly mysterious. And the way he said he loved me. Why the hell did he tell me he loves me? He must have been pulling a prank or something. Good one, Derek! Telling you step-sister you're in love with her.' Her mind snapped to focus on the kiss. 'Why did he kiss me? More importantly…why did I like it? Well, screw him and his jokes!'
The night crawled by just as slowly for Derek. Instead of lying in bed, like Casey, he was sitting in his computer desk, once again clad in only his boxers. He spun the chair around one way, then back the other way. He stared at a picture of a motorcycle on his wall as he turned on his iPod. Soon Bush's 'Cold Contagious' was blasting in his ears.
'Why did I have to tell her? It's not like she loves me back or anything. I shouldn't love her, I really shouldn't, that's not the kind of guy I am.' he thought to himself as the music pounded in his skull. 'She's beautiful, but so are a lot of girls. I mean, she's really the only one who presents a challenge, but I know I'd still want her if she gave in. She's just…different. I hated it when she was with Sam, and I'll hate it if she turns me down, which is very likely to happen.' He sighed. 'I don't know what to do. I mean, what would Sam say? Emily? Our parents? That sounds so wrong! Her mom, My dad. We're only related through marriage. Our parent's marriage. Damnit to hell! I don't fucking need this!' He sighed again, banging his fist against his desk, hitting the edge with his last knuckle, causing it to bleed.
"Damnit!" he swore out loud as he went to the bathroom to stop the flow of blood. After quickly rinsing his hand off, he put a band-aid on his knuckle and went back to his room. Crawling into bed, he soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
Casey was up before Derek, but was still up later than everyone else. She walked into the kitchen still dressed in her pajamas, and got her a bowl of cereal. She ate quickly then rinsed her bowl and spoon in the sink. She walked into the living room right as Derek was walking downstairs, wearing the pajama pants from the previous night, but no shirt.
He looked at Casey, then around the empty living room.
"Where is everyone?" He asked, groggily. Casey glanced at the floor then back up at him.
"Mom and George are in their room, watching T.V. with Marti. Lizzie and Edwin are in their rooms, or rather, Lizzie is in Edwin's room, their playing computer games." Derek yawned, stretching.
"Good. We need to talk. But first, I need to eat and take a shower. So, meet me down here in an hour."
"Why should I listen to you?" Casey was sure it was about his prank kisses last night, and really didn't want anymore embarrassment then was necessary.
"Because you're curious? Because not knowing is killing you? Because you might want to find out why?" She just sighed and shrugged.
"Fine. An hour. It'll give me time to shower why you eat." He smiled at her.
"That's my Casey, always reasonable." Derek said to her as he went to the kitchen.
An hour later, Casey sat in the still empty living room, waiting for Derek to come down from his shower.
He appeared, dressed in jeans with his hair still dripping wet. He shivered as he sat down beside her.
"What's with you?" She asked. He kind of glared at her, but was too busy shivering to do much.
"Water got cold, halfway through, I had just put shampoo in my hair too. So I had to rinse my hair with cold water." She gasped.
"No wonder you're freezing! Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" He shrugged. "Well, you need to get warm." She threw a blanket across his shoulders, snuggly tucking it around him.
"Thanks." He smiled at her. "So, you do care about me." It was her turn to shrug.
"It was my fault the water got cold…and you are my brother." He shook his head.
"I'm not your brother, I never have been. We don't share any DNA; your mom married my dad. That's the only way were connected. Hell, we didn't even know each other existed until a little over a year ago."
"But…" She paused. "But you kissed me! You told me you loved me." She groaned. "If this is one of your damn jokes, Derek…It's not fair of you to toy with me this way." He jumped of the couch and out from under the blanket she had wrapped around him.
"Who said I was toying with you? Maybe I really am in love with you! Do you know I had to save for six months to buy you that necklace? That I couldn't sleep last night thinking about you, but that's nothing new. I don't sleep a lot of nights, thinking of you being right across the hall! Damnit to fucking hell, Case. I'm completely head over hills in love with you, and I've tried not to be, god knows I've tried. But every time I went out with another girl, I compared them to you. I couldn't kiss them without thinking about you! I couldn't think about them, because my mind, my heart, was with you. You think I wanted this? Hell no I didn't!" He quit yelling, his voice going deep, into an almost growl, "I love you Case, and you're the one toying with me. Dressing in that Babe Raider outfit…that almost did me in Case. Do you have any idea how fricken' beautiful you are? I know you don't love me, and I won't ask you too. I just wanted you to know…I love you."
She had sat there, speechless, through his entire tirade, not knowing what to say. Not knowing if what she felt in her heart was right, if the butterflies in her stomach were from fear or something more.
"Derek, please. Please sit down." He complied, head back, sighing. "Derek…last night, when you kissed me, I kissed you back…and I really liked it. You confuse me, Derek." She looked over at him. "How can you treat me like your enemy, say hurtful things, and then tell me you're in love with me? Are you crazy? Because I know you've driven me insane." She grabbed his hand, "I don't know what to feel, Derek, but I believe what you said. I know this is probably not the best of situations and…oh, to hell with it!"